Unity
by DreamAlex
Summary: Most people might say that Chara is completely evil - that there is no redemption for Genocide. But what if Chara wasn't evil? What if she was always with Frisk? Through all the Neutral Routes, and even Pacifist. What if they had always been together? This is the story of Chara, and how she was awoken by Frisk's determination.
1. Chapter 1

Darkness.

No, not darkness. At least, not what it had been before. Something had changed from the limbo I was trapped in - something new. It wasn't the void like I knew it. In the void, I couldn't feel anything. Not my limbs, not my head, just nothingness.

Whatever this was, it was a welcome relief from the eternity I had spent wandering. Instead of nothingness… I felt something… tickling my arms and back. Wait… my arms? My body? Without thinking, light suddenly flooded everywhere in my gaze. It took me a few seconds to process that it wasn't just light - it was eyes - _my eyes_ \- that had fluttered open.

Reflexively, I squinted at the bright stream of light flowing down on top of me. For a moment, I sat there, laying on the ground still, the ticklish sensation below me and a bright light above me. I tried to flex anything - to check if it wasn't just eyes that I had. For one fearful moment, nothing happened. Relief flooded through me, however, when I could feel the smallest sensations of my body, and sat up into place.

Still, where I was didn't register. How… how had I gotten here? One second I was asleep - as asleep as a restless soul could be that is, and the next I'm in my body. On a… bed of flowers? As if pulled by puppet strings out of my hand, I stood up, to take a look around me.

I had been lying on a bed of pretty, yellow flowers. Above, there was some kind of skylight. That was where the light had been coming from. It looked… familiar, somewhat. For a moment, I looked at it pondering.

Then it struck me from where I knew it. This - that was - it was the hole I had dropped through to get to the underground, so long ago. If this was ever a moment for my jaw to drop, it seemed it would have.

But instead of what I expected, my whole body started walking of it's own accord. Surprise flooded through me as I tried to stop it - whatever strange pull was gearing me to go forward. How was any of this possible? I _died._ Asriel also died.

If I could, I would have stopped in my tracks as I thought about the last two statements. I had… he was dead. Our plan had failed. So, so, badly. I had died, he had died, and… and…

The ruins! I was heading to the ruins! I finally brought myself back to what my body was currently doing. A small hill on the ground was the only obstacle blocking us from entering the ruins. It looked almost the same as it did when I was alive - how long had I been gone exactly? The void seemed endless in time. Someone I knew had to be alive… right?

I should feel happy that I was alive. That I was in a body, and was heading back to the underground. And I should feel sad knowing that Asriel was dead - probably deader than myself at the moment.

But I felt nothing. Nothing at all. It was all so strange, and I had no time to reflect on any of this before I felt out whole body stop in surprise. I slowly turned my gaze from reflection on myself to the world around me. It was strange - seeing stuff happen to me from this point of view. I was used to my thoughts and nothing else.

But here, all I had were my thoughts, and no control. The eyes I was using was directed on the same hill we had been looking at a minute ago - but now there was a… flower sticking out of it. With a smiley face. Huh.

"Howdy!"

I felt myself freeze as I heard the voice echo the same words Asriel often said. Finally, my body reacted the same way that I wanted to, surprise etched in every of my movements.

"I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!"

 _Well that's pretty obvious._ I had meant to speak the words, but my lips refused to move when I thought the words. I couldn't even talk now? Great. Instead, the words I had thought seem to echo in my mind, filling up the space.

"Hmm… you're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?"

 _No! I'm a resident here!_ I thought - as that was the only thing I could do at the moment. While I could control small things, it seemed I was totally unable to do what I wanted.

"Golly, you must be so confused! Someone ought to teach you how things work around here. Guess little old me will have to do." The flower's movements were almost exaggerated as he talked, blinking innocently. A bit… too innocently. He sure talked like Asriel - but this flower… he felt… fake. Like he plucked Asriel's speech from my mind. It made me shudder. I knew how the Underground worked - I didn't need to listen to this guy. I willed myself to walk around, but still, it was like someone else was in control of my body.

Suddenly, I felt a pull. A pull on a SOUL. A SOUL. My physical representation of it appeared it front of me. I felt myself stiffen as I stared at it. It couldn't be. My SOUL was still intact? After all this time? How was that even possible? Asriel… he had absorbed it. He had died. I had been released into the void. The last physical thing I had felt was when Asriel turned to dust. Did my SOUL survive it? Was that why I had consciousness in the void? Was that why I was still alive now?

I was snapped out of my inner thoughts as Flowey spoke again. LV? EXP? I stared at the flower, willing my jaw to drop once more - which to my displeasure it did not. He was seriously trying to make me believe LV stood for actual _love?_ _Yeah, right._ I let my thoughts out once more, into my mind. _Cause level of violence is really what love is about._

Just as I finished my inner thoughts, my body stiffened, as if it just realized what Flowey was talking about, while I had noticed it second beforehand. A late response is better than no response, I guessed. Even if I hadn't willed my body to do it that time.

Suddenly, though, I realized what the Flowey was now saying. Sharing love with us? As if he would ever do that! I scoffed at the concept. Yeah, this troublesome guy would share something with us. To say I wasn't surprised when the white bullets appeared would be an understatement at this point. 'White friendliness pellets'. Yeah, right.

And now, they were heading towards my SOUL. And nothing. My SOUL… it wasn't moving! My body had relaxed, as if they were willing to catch these pellets and be killed. _NO! DODGE THEM!_ I screamed out, but only managed to get my voice echoing in my head, just like before.

For a moment, nothing happened. The white bullets were still speeding toward my SOUL, and once again, I was about to die. Helpless to do a thing about it. But at the last moment, something happened. Something that I couldn't put my tongue on. In my mind… I felt understanding. Somebody else's understanding. And at the last moment, my SOUL moved ever so slightly as to dodge the oncoming bullets.

Immediately, relief flooded through me. It had dodged. I was safe. I didn't even have time to realize that I was actually feeling something, before this flower started talking again.

"Hey buddy, you missed them. Let's try again, okay?"

 _Yeah, right!_ I wanted to shout, wanting to throw it into this stupid flower's face that he hadn't tricked me, but still, my voice only echoed in my mind. This was ridiculous! I couldn't talk, I barely had control over my body, and this DAMN FLOWER WAS TRYING TO KILL ME!

I didn't waste a second this time. Gathering what force that I could, as as soon as he began floating the bullets toward me, I once again dodged, throwing my SOUL all the way to the right to dodge this time. Once again, something weird happened. Surprise floated through me. Why was I feeling surprised? I knew what I had to do, and I wasn't going to play Flowey's games.

"Is this a joke? Are you braindead? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!"

 _Not happening._ I thought smugly, even if he couldn't hear the satisfaction that I was feeling right now. Without my help, my SOUL dodged the bullets on the own, now eliciting real surprise from me. I hadn't even had the chance to think about dodging, and my SOUL had dodged the oncoming slaughter. That… wasn't supposed to happen. But either way, I wasn't dying. Great start.

I couldn't even ponder why my SOUL had moved of it's own accord, when the Flowey's face… changed. Moments ago, he had smiling. And his face had only scrunched up slightly when I missed the bullets before popping back to that bland happy face. Now… it was twisted. Beyond belief. Like the facade it was hiding was finally over with.

" _You know what's going on here, don't you? You just wanted to see me suffer."_ All mannerisms that I had pictured with Asriel were dropped. Flowey was finally showing his true colors. And honestly, the scary look on his face creeped me out a bit. Who knew a yellow flower could be that horrible? Even the ones in my village were just flowers - not the result of the humans there.

"DIE."

Oh, gods, no. I could only stare helplessly as suddenly, those white bullets were multiplied by who knows what number, completely surrounding my soul on all sides, in a circle. This wasn't fair! This wasn't how you were supposed to fight! What kind of LOVE did this creature have? I could imagine humans having it - but monsters? Sure, some of them loved to fight for some reason, but there had always been a way to escape. Apparently, this flower wanted us dead now and here.

Moving my SOUL would do nothing, I knew - there was no way out when it was completely surrounded. Still, I watched my SOUL try to move around, before it seemed to realize it had nowhere to go.

Despair started to flow from somewhere else. It wasn't mine… but as soon as I felt the raw emotion, I began to feel it myself. Together, my own despair and the foreign emotion mixed together, combining in a heap of despair.

 _I'm going to die again… this is it. I came back to life to live for a whole five minutes._ I thought bitterly, fighting the urge to laugh at how stupid it really was.

I only just noticed the bullets disappeared, through the tears that had started to gather at my eyes. Not only that, but I stiffened as suddenly, a fireball came out of nowhere and knocked the flower away.

I gasped, as my eyes trailed to where the flower had disappeared to. A fireball? I only knew three creatures who had the ability to do that. Asriel… But it couldn't be him. He was dead.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a pure and innocent soul…"

I froze, feeling my heart stop. Mom. It was mom. I watched her come closer, feeling my heart beating fast. It was her. It was really her.

"Ah, do not be afraid, my child."

 _Mom!_ I wanted to cry and reach out to her. This was the first time I was seeing her for so long. I felt frozen in time though, once again trapped, unable to do anything.

"I'm Toriel, caretaker of the ruins." _What?_ I stared at her, in disbelief. _Don't you recognize me? Why are you introducing yourself?_

"I'm…" My mouth moves, spilling out words that are not my own. I scream to empty air. _CHARA! YOUR DAUGHTER!_ "... My name is Frisk." I mumble, not of my own will.

 _Who is controlling my body?_ The despair that I was still feeling only increases, as I think something. Something that couldn't be true. Slowly, mustering whatever willpower I still had, I forced myself to look down.

I was wearing a blue and purple striped shirt that was not my own. Darker skin color. It… It wasn't me.

I wasn't in my own body.

I wasn't in control.

I was trapped, alone, in a body that was not my own, with my mother right in front of me and no way to reach her.

Knowing that despite my knowledge that I wouldn't be heard, I let my despair out anyway, and began to sob, silent to the outside world.


	2. Chapter 2

The ruins look almost exactly like I remember them.

I stare as my body - no, _her_ body walks around, inspecting the ruins as Toriel guides them. I want to reach out, grab Toriel's hand, and apologize for everything - tell her that I'm still here with her. But it seems what little control that I had before has disappeared out of my reach now. The fear that had paralyzed Frisk enough to let me take over for a while was gone. I was back to being in the backseat of this ride.

Mo- Toriel was leading us through the ruins. And surprisingly, not much had changed since when I first got there. Honestly… the only thing that changed from my memories of first tumbling through here was how _old_ everything looked. Vines hung on the walls of the ruins - and the walls themselves crumbled here and there. But the puzzles were the same as I had remembered them. If Toriel had let us, I would have made sure to go do that spike puzzle all on my own. It wasn't _that_ hard to understand. Couldn't 'Frisk' understand what the sign meant by herself? And the dummy - talking to a dummy. I wanted to facepalm right then and there, but nevertheless we talked to it.

I was, to be honest, bored out of my mind. I had experienced most of this before. So, I had been almost staring out into space, not paying attention to what Toriel was saying. It was great being by her… but it was like before. I barely felt anything towards her. It was only a small trickle of emotion that was aimed towards her. And I wasn't even sure if it was _my_ emotions anymore.

After all, only a little bit earlier did I happen to feel Frisk's emotions. She felt the same despair that I did when Flowey was about to kill us - even more, she felt it before I did. And I knew that I had felt it after she did. She didn't even know what was really going on - yet... it was strange, really.

"I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself for me." What? Surprise rippled through my face, not only from me, but also from Frisk. Now, this was new. "Forgive me." Immediately, Toriel turned around and started to run across the room, and in a few seconds, we lost sight of them.

Immediately, I felt a new emotion flood through our body - distraught. Coming straight from Frisk - the other half of this shared mind. But, unlike last time… I didn't feel it. I didn't need to. Toriel… she was always kind. She wouldn't just leave. Unless something had drastically changed after I died, the kind women I knew would always be right around the corner.

I stare at the empty space where she was just a minute ago. We were supposed to be going. But it seems Frisk had frozen - like she wasn't sure what the heck she was going to see at the end of the hallway.

 _Come on, move!_ I think hard, and once again echoing around me. I do wonder if I was talking to myself - or if Frisk could hear me. She had to know somebody else shared her body… right? Either way, we were still not moving, our body even stiffening more. If any, that was probably a sign that she could hear me - and was probably wondering who the heck was talking to her when no one else was in the room.

" _Move, please! We can't just stand here!"_ I begged silently, hoping that Frisk would respond. Instead, all I got was our head now being spun around, trying to find the source of the voice - my voice, which was obviously inside her head. Honestly. Did I really have to do all the work around here?

" _Fine then. I'll move for us."_ Immediately, I grasped the will power - I suppose it was the control of our body, not my own will power, and thrusted one leg forward. And we did move - rather sloppily, and I almost made us stumble to the ground, but still, we had managed to move one pace. Immediately, satisfaction filled me. This power - my determination, it was back. It was like I had finally wrested control away from Frisk, and back into my own hands.

Gaining more confidence, I moved our other leg, and felt a smile creep up on my face. Despite the surprise coming from what was Frisk - and the panic. " _H-Hey!"_

I paused in my footsteps as finally, another voice echoed around the chambers. About time that she began to talk back, and notice.  
" _Yeah?"_ I thought hard, sending it about as I took another step, despite the wobble that I still had - after all, it had been a while since I had a body of my own, wasn't it?

" _Who are you? What are you doing?!"_

I felt myself snicker aloud, and immediately beamed that I could control my vocal sounds - even if it was only just a snicker at this point. I didn't even to stop to think that maybe Toriel had noticed. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm walking. Toriel said for you to walk, and you froze. So I did the walking for us."

For a moment, Frisk was silent as we moved ahead, with still no Toriel in sight. Then, another question. " _Who are you? What are you doing in my body?"_

"Not completely sure of that last part. I remember waking up when you did - probably when you fell. You did fall, right?" Now I was completely enveloped in walking - heck, it was one of the most exciting things that I could do at the moment. When you've been dead for so long, I guess that just happens."

" _So you don't know? … You didn't answer my first question, by the way."_

" _No clue. And well… my name's Chara, if you really have to kn-"_ My thoughts were abruptly cut off when Toriel appeared out from behind a post - the only one in the room, actually. I let out an inner sigh - if I hadn't been so caught up with talking, then I probably would have noticed before walking right past it. Either way, Toriel seemed proud of me.

A bit of pride trickled from Frisk - and immediately, I started beaming even more. I had gained a bit more control, and had made Toriel proud. Compared to Frisk's emotion, mine completely outshone hers now. While for her, it was from a near stranger. To me… it was like from a mo-... immediately, my pride died down at my unintentional thoughts, dimming it.

"It worried me slightly, my child, that you took so long to get over here." Toriel said, looking at us with a little worry on her face.

" _That's thanks to you."_ I thought pointedly, hoping that Frisk got the message.

"But then I saw how happy you were looking around, I just couldn't interrupt you." Toriel finished warmly, smiling down at us.

"Haha… yeah." The words slipped out of my mouth, before I even realized it. I even surprised myself by it. Frisk hadn't talked much at all since she had met Toriel - except to introduce herself.

Toriel seemed to brighten to see us respond once more, before continuing on, saying she had to leave for a little while. Well, that sucks. At least she gave us a cell phone.

When she leaves, suddenly I find myself walking. This time - to the post where Toriel had his from us. With a sigh, we sat down, leaning back on it.

" _What are you doing?"_ I think with a huff, annoyed that I was once again in the backseat.

" _I'm waiting like Toriel said."_ Frisk huffed right back, before continuing on. " _Can't you leave me alone? You said it was a mistake for you being inside me - so get out.'_

" _Listen, I'd love to. It's not fun being in the backseat, trust me. But… I can't. Even if I could, I wouldn't want to. I'd probably just go back to being dead."_

" _Dead?"_ Frisk's thoughts squeaked out. " _What do you mean 'dead'?"_

" _Dead. I died. And then my SOUL died. I shouldn't even exist."_ I had to admit, I was probably scaring Frisk out of her mind at the moment. But… I didn't really care either. She had asked, I would answer. Not like there was much to do except stare at the purple walls of the room, and the occasional monster that hopped or flew close to me.

" _... So are you a ghost?"_

" _Uh… No? Maybe so? Not entirely sure. I just know if I leave, I'll probably be on a one way trip back to the void."_

Then, there was one peaceful minute of quiet.

" _What's the void?"_

I wanted to facepalm right then. Who knew this girl was so inquisitive? How was I supposed to answer half of these questions if I didn't know the answer myself?

Either way, with a sigh, I began picking off the fuzz of my sweater. " _It's where I was after my SOUL shattered. Don't know much else about it. I was the only one there. I thought there might have been someone else for a while… But then he disappeared."_ Silence filled the room, and I felt the beginning of another question on Frisk's tongue begin to form. " _Before you ask something else, I deserve answers too. Why'd you climb this mountain?"_

" _I was hiking with a friend of mine… I knew they said the caverns were haunted, but we chose to go have fun anyway."_ It was a better reason than my own, I guess. A happier reason, anyway. ' _It was an accident falling in… I wonder how they are now."_

" _I fell too."_ I could feel a flare of surprise emit from Frisk in response at our similarity. " _But I didn't climb this mountain for a happy reason."_

Silence filled the area again.

" _I'm sorry."_

" _For what?"_ Now it was my turn to be surprised.

,

" _For whatever made you climb this mountain."_

" _... Thanks."_ If Frisk expected me to open up completely - to the horrors that I had been subjected to as a youth, she was so wrong. I wasn't about to open up - at least not yet. Too bad for her if she wanted to hear my whole life story. My mouth - well, my thoughts - were shut off, as I stared at the wall harder to concentrate all my attention on _not_ thinking.

Plus… she was a human. That in itself did not sit well with me. I may have been born a human, but I was a monster at heart. Frisk… Well, she may act differently than the humans I knew, but she would only give me empty pity if she knew what I had been through. She wouldn't have to empathize - especially if she had a reason to return to the surface. If she was smart, she would want to stay with Toriel.

"Toriel…" I let out a sigh from our body, unable to help myself as I thought about her. She was like a real mother for me. Asgore and her raised me like their own. Like Asriel… It made my heart hurt thinking about it all. I couldn't even go up to Toriel and tell her that I'm me without her probably thinking I'm crazy… And what would Asgore think?

Where was Asgore anyway? The gears in my mind began turning as I realized something. Many people had left the ruins - and the monsters here were few and far between. And Toriel passed through where I fell every day? Why wasn't she at New Home - I still facepalm at the name - with Asgore, leading the country?

" _Chara?"_

Frisk's voice cuts through my thoughts, and I let out a inwardly groan. Couldn't I get any peace and quiet? Narrowing our eyes, and gripping our legs tighter to our chest, I reluctantly answer.

" _Yes?"_ I say icily. For a few seconds, I sensed hesitation coming from Frisk.

" _... Is Toriel your mother? Is that why I sensed sadness from you when you said her name?"_

For a moment, I felt the hairs on my neck begin to bristle at the intrusiveness of the question How dare she ask something like that? … But I suppose I had let me emotions be a bit too clear.

" _... Yes, when I was alive she raised me as her own. She was a mother to me like no other."_ I suppose I should have felt something saying these words - but when I pulled my heartstrings to find the emotions I needed, I felt… Nothing.

" _She is pretty nice.. "_ Just like before, I felt a trickle of emotion from Frisk - something I realized I was once again missing. Fondness… And just the tiniest of love.

A gasp came out of me, as the emotions nearly tripled in strength. It was now coming out of me. "You!" I say out loud, even though Frisk wasn't a person psychically in front of me.

" _What is it?"_ I felt the alarm renovate through our body from Frisk, at my sudden outburst. For a moment, I grit my teeth, and ignore her, feeling the need to roll up my hands into fists and just punch something -anything.:;;

" _You - you feel emotions. I can't! At least not until you do! It's like… Something's missing. Something important.",_ I feel my lip tremble slightly, and find myself swaying, but Frisk doesn't seek to rip control from me while I'm weakened. For that, I am grateful for.

" _You… You can't feel emotion?"_ I sensed it as soon as she said the words. She was pitying me. Instead of calming me down, it only made me madder. My nose flared in indignation and

" _No! Yes? Maybe?"_ Oh, this was the second time she had made me question myself. That only added fuel to my fire. " _I can feel the emotions that you have - since the moment you have them. They don't disappear from myself after they happen to you… does that make sense?"_

" _Kind… of?"_

" _Well that's the only explanation I got, so that's the only explanation you are getting."_ I sigh as I raise my hands to rub my forehead - or our forehead. Our hands? This was gonna get confusing. That only made the headache that had started pound harder in my head.

" _Whatever… we're not going to stay here though."_ I said, finally making some kind of decision. At least it would be better than staying here and getting asked a million questions.

" _But Toriel said for me to stay here!"_ For a second, our feet almost tripped over themselves as they headed to the door, in an attempt for Frisk to stop me from going any farther.

" _Yeah, but trust me. She's gonna take a long time - and then we're going to have to go look for her anyway. I've been through this a million times. We always have to try to find her. Always."_

Frisk dropped silent, to my satisfaction. Finally, we could proceed. And maybe if I was lucky, I could persuade Toriel into giving some of the answers I seeked without giving away my identity.

" _We?"_

I frown as I stop a few feet from the doorway. " _What?"_

" _You said we. I didn't drop into the Underground until now. You said 'we' always have to find Toriel. What do you mean?"_

Silence, and I had to once again grit my teeth so I wouldn't bite her head off. Instead, I replied half-heartedly. "Nothing. I meant nothing by it."

Not waiting for Frisk to ask any more questions, I moved onto the next room.


	3. Chapter 3

Sometimes, life gives you lemons. Instead something seemed to shine down on us, for luck. Monster candy. Not chocolate, but hey, what can you do? I plucked one after another from the bowl.

 _"What are you doing?!"_

 _"Taking the candy? What else?"_ I snort as I reach for another.

 _"It said take one!"_

 _"Well, I'll stop at four. Two for each of us!"_ I snort, before I watch as the bowl wobbles slightly before falling to the floor. Well, that made them gross and useless.

"Look at what you did!" Frisk says out loud, as I feel dismay come from her once again.

 _"Aw come on - it wasn't like the Froggits around here are going to take anyway."_ I snort at the very idea as me move around. So far, we had encountered a singular one of them. And one simple compliment made them leave us alone - thankfully. I started to stuff the candies deep into our pocket, when once again, heard a protesting voice.

 _"What? You're not even going to eat it now that we took it?"_ With one singular moment, one candy was picked from the pocket, and plopped into our mouth. I felt my jaw drop, as I tried myself to stop from chewing the vital item, but it was too late. The sweet tasting candy has melted on our tongue, and had disappeared down our throat.

"Seriously?!" I cry out to no one, just as Frisk had done moments ago. "That was supposed to heal our health for later! Like if we got attacked by that flower again! Don't do that again unless we need it!"

 _"But…"_ Frisk's voice sounds dejected at my words. _"I didn't know…"_

She sounds so down about it, about not knowing any better… I let out a sigh. It was true - I had been just as clueless when I first fell into the Underground. If Asirel hadn't been there to find me… who knows what would have happened? I probably would have died a few steps forward in the ruins." _"Listen, let me just lead the way for now, alright? It's not like you know this place. At least I know my way around. For the most part. You know, if nothing changed really."_

 _"Yeah…"_ I can tell that Frisk wasn't really pacified with my response. But for now, she let me take control. _"Fine. But what else is going to attack us? Toriel said we'd be safe here."_

 _"Thank you,"_ I say, finally satisfied. Now we could finally get moving, which sent me beaming as I began to walk out of the quiet room, before walking to a leaf pile to inspect it. _"Don't know. Most monsters are fine. I doubt that we'll really get attacked much here."_

 _"You're going to do what Toriel said though? We'll talk it out with everyone here?"_ Frisk's worried voice still penetrated my mind, as I kneeled down to poke at the leaf pile. It felt weird - being alive again that is. In the void, I was wrapped in darkness - I did have a physical representation of my body, but that was all it was - a representation, not the actual thing. Plus, all I could do was float, with no real sense of my being.

Now, I was feeling all the sensations I had grown to miss. Reaching out a tentative hand, I felt the rough, paper-like quality of the leaves in my hand, before curling my hand into a fist to feel the leaf get crushed, and breaking into smaller pieces. From that, I was able to gather two theories. The leaf pile had been sitting here for either a really long time… or it was autumn.

Now, everything had happened in the summer. The beginning of summer, when I knew the golden flowers of my former village would be in bloom. So… I could gather that at least three months hung on the line, most likely. But that was on top of the years. Who knew how many years had passed? And this pile could have been from my first theory - just sitting here a long time. So, reluctantly, I was still back at square one.

Well, at least I could have some fun with it. With a small grin, I kicked the leaves, sending some flying into the air, before loftily making their way back to the ground. In all honesty, I missed this kind of fun. It had been boring in the void - you can only play so many games with yourself until you got bored with it. Plus, not like anyone that I saw, even for a split second, was exactly a real talker.

So, seeing this leaf pile, well… it made me happy. Really, happy. I could feel that Frisk was questioning something - probably my own actions, now that I thought about it, but I didn't care. With a laugh, I threw myself onto the leaves, and suddenly - it was like a pull.

Determination.

I had forgotten what it felt like. I had been gone for so long, I almost had forgotten what my SOUL had been made of. And what Frisk's was too. With a smile, I let out a laugh - not a mean one, or a sarcastic one. But just a joyful one - a happy one. And I could feel Frisk - the same emotion rising up in her, though with a tinge of confusion.

" _What happened?"_ It was like a daze, as I got to our feet, and shook off the leaves that clung to our sweater - though a big grin still rested on my face. _"That was…"_ Yet, Frisk still felt confused. She could obviously feel the waves of happiness from me - though at the moment, I didn't actually care that my emotions weren't locked away, secret to anyone but myself.

 _"That was determination."_ I said firmly, proudly even. It was what made me - me. I knew monsters had none - but I also knew that some humans never had enough of it. _"That's what my SO- um, I mean your SOUL is made up of. Determination."_

 _"How do you know that?"_

 _"Cause I had a SOUL just like yours once."_ I answered simply, which was more than true. What had happened to her SOUL after Asriel died, was a mystery really. Monster's SOULS were destroyed immediately. Humans lasted. Mine had lasted after my initial death. But whatever had happened when Asriel died - with both his SOUL and mine inside him, it must have changed something.

Once again, Frisk fell silent. With a sigh, I pulled off the last persistent leaf on me, and watched it float to the ground, with the dead air in the ruins simply letting it fall. _"Now come on. That's enough of that."_

Turns out… I was less than right. Apparently, every monster that we encountered… wanted to fight. Honestly though, what did Whimsun think they were doing? They float right up to you… and nothing. If you try talking to them - boom, they flee immediately. And the Froggits were just getting annoying by now. Not to mention that we had gotten injured, if only a little. Getting attacked every few steps also made working through the puzzles one heck of a challenge. Most of them hadn't changed, which was a complete relief.

 _"What do you mean we shouldn't heal now?"_ Frisk said, and I could feel her confusion and frustration. She had managed to convince me not to straight up tackle any of the monsters we had encountered so far. Not that I would have anyway. I wasn't going to just ignore what Toriel had said.

 _"We're only a little battered. A few scratches here and there... monster candy heals for a lot more than that!"_

 _"But if we're going to get hit again…"_

 _"If we're really limping, then I'll use it."_ I say with a snort, as we round the corner of the next room. Strange. The only thing in it. Was a table with a piece of cheese on table… and a tiny mouse hole. Immediately, Frisk ran over, taking control. _"Oh! There are regular animals here?_ "

 _"Of course! I mean, me and you made our way down here. An animal or two always wanders around here. Plus, there were animals underground before monsters had to come down here."_

Frisk bent down to inspect the cheese, reaching for it. " _Could this heal u- oh, nevermind. It's stuck to the table."_

 _"I would have left it anyway. For the mouse."_

Suddenly, the pull reappeared. Just like before.

Determination.

Immediately, all the cuts and scratches on us disappeared, just like magic. And just like that, we were fully restored.

 _"Well that's new…"_ I marveled at the sight, not completely sure what I was seeing was really before my eyes.

 _"Does that usually happen to you?"_ Frisk said, blinking wildly.

 _"Nope… then again most monsters didn't attack me either. But… things have probably changed since I was alive. But determination? Yeah, I'm pretty used to this. At least, I used to be."_

" _Do you think this will happen again?"_ Frisk asks inquisitively, as I could almost hear the gears whirring away in her - er, our - head.

 _"Maybe. But come on, there are more puzzles to solve. I'm not going to sit here and dwell on it."_ I say, shaking our head before I finally forced our head to turn away from the mousehole, where Frisk had been staring. Maybe if we hadn't been so distracted, we would actually be going someplace now.

Luck was not on my side, however. The moment we stepped into the next room, a sharp ring rang out. A… cell phone? _"Oh."_ I said taking the phone out of my pocket, when before staring at it in a moment, and feeling my heart wrench. It was my old cell phone. Mom had still kept it? I stared at it for a moment before clicking a button.

"Hello? This is Toriel!"

I felt my heart drop again, as I listened to her voice. "H-Hello!" I stutter out, before letting go of the will, almost making Frisk drop the phone in surprise.

"How are you doing, my child?"

"Well!" Frisk quickly blurted out, as she pulled the phone tighter to her face.

"I was wondering what do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?"

Immediately, our face lit up at my joy. No… she was really going to make her famous pie? The very one she had made for me the first time I had fallen? For a moment, a twinge of jealousy made it's way through me. But… as much as I loathed my situation, it wasn't Frisk's fault that she had fallen in here.

"Uh… cinnamon? I guess?" Frisk answered into the phone.

"Oh, of course, thanks!" The phone clicked off.

 _"You know,you could have asked what I liked best, y'know? I do like butterscotch - a lot."_ I frown, wondering if I could mask my feelings of Frisk - because underneath it, I was ready to burst out laughing.

 _"Oh, I'm so-... wait a moment. You're laughing!"_ I could feel her indigence.

 _"Well the fact is-"_ I say, continuing to move forward before once again, our phone was set off. Confusion swarmed from Frisk, as once again, she pulled the phone out of her pocket, before answering it. "Hello?"

"You do not… dislike butterscotch, do you? I know your preference… but…."

"Oh no! I really like both equally." I said, beaming happily at the prospect of butterscotch cinnamon pie. It was supposed to be a surprise for Frisk obviously - but it was pretty obvious what it was when you really put together the pieces.

"Oh alright!" With that the phone snapped off again.

 _"What is she planning on making?"_ Frisk sounded generally curious.

 _"You'll see soon enough. It's her specialty!"_ I thought with a smirk.

Turns out, mom was still worried. Not a minute later, the phone rang again. I had forgotten how persistent she could be at times. "Yes?" I said, trying not to sound as annoyed as I felt.

"You do not have any allergies do you?"

Since no one else was currently in the room, I decided facepalming then wouldn't be as rude as it would be in person. "No m- er, Toriel." I mumbled into the phone, shifting it away from my face hoping she hadn't heard my slip up.

"If you're sure…" And finally, the phone snapped off.

 _"Could have asked, you know?"_ Frisk said, sounding as annoyed as I had felt a few seconds ago. _"How do you know I don't have any allergies?"_

"Er…" I froze, only now realizing my mistake. This wasn't my body. It was an alien one to me. I could be as easily poisoned as I was when I originally died. The very thought made me sway, as I feel a sense of sickness at that.

 _"Be glad that I really don't have any allergies."_ And with that, relief flooded through me once again. At least it wouldn't be like before. I honestly shuddered at the thought, closing my eyes for a brief second to block out any memory of that horrible time.

 _"... You really missed her didn't you?"_ My eyes opened in shock at the statement, my mouth gaping slightly. Frisk… she was getting more and more intrusive with her questions. But apparently my emotions flared whenever the wanted, despite what I truly wanted.

 _"... Yes. Of course. She's… she's the closest thing I had to having a real mom."_

Silence.

Without notice, Frisk began to press random buttons on the phone. _"How do I call her back?"_

"Bottom middle is return call. But what are yo-" My eyebrows knitted together as I tried to work out what Frisk meant to do - I mean, talk to her? Say that a dead spirit of her child was in a body of another child? Yeah, that would fly over well with her.

"Yes my child?" Toriel answered, almost immediately. And though I was holding back, my heart still gave the slightest ache.

"Can I call you mom?" I froze, as the words escape my mouth, though they are not my own. Frisk was one the one that was saying them. Not me.

"... Would… would that make you happy?"

"Yes…" Now, it was my turn to talk, as I whisper the words in the phone. The longing I was feeling - the longing for home, like Frisk felt for the surface, surged in me, as I pressed the phone tightly to my cheek.

"Well… You can call me whatever you would like."

With that, the phone clicked off. Slowly, I lowered the cell phone before simply staring at it. She had kept my old cell phone. She was willing to call Frisk - a stranger, really, her child. Though, she had done the same thing to me when I fell down I supposed. How long was I gone? It didn't make sense.

 _"Chara?"_ Frisk sounded worried, and I soon realized that I had made us start to shiver and shake. "Are you alright?"

 _"Why did you do that?"_ I say quietly, reaching up to feel a little wetness below my eyes. It felt like so many more years in the void. An eternity, really. More than that. It felt like years, and much more.

 _"Chara…"_

 _"Why did you do that?!"_ I cried out, feeling the wetness - tears streaming down my face.

 _"B-Because you love her… because she's your mom."_ Frisk sounded shocked at my outburst, and looking back on it, I didn't blame her in the least - a stranger was crying in her body. But that's exactly what I didn't understand.

 _"I know that! But… I'm a stranger, an alien in your body. You should hate me. But… all you have been is kind. And it's so… frustrating!" T_ hat's what I didn't understand. I didn't deserve the kindness Frisk was showing me - not at all, in my opinion. So why was she being so nice? I just…. didn't understand.

 _"Because… You deserve it. Even if you don't think so."_ The stream of tears running down my face had finally started to slow down. And slowly, I managed to raise one sleeve, and wipe our face off.

 _"... Thank you."_


	4. Chapter 4

A ghost. It was a ghost.

"What?" I hear Frisk saying impatiently as she looked at the ghost. She was looking for a way around the ghost without disturbing it, but there appeared to be no other way.

" _You know that ghosts don't sleep, right?"_ I say, crossing our arms as I glared down at the ghost - who was still repeatedly saying 'z' outloud. " _Honestly, they're ghosts. They don't need to sleep. Or really do it at all. Don't you know this?"_

" _We… don't exactly get many ghosts from where I come from."_

" _... Right."_ I mutter, groaning inwardly. Yeah. I had forgotten. Humans… didn't have ghosts. At least not really. Unless you counted me. And I didn't want to think of myself as the only human ghost in existence. Or… non-existence? Was that even the right word for what I was?

" _Can you sleep then?"_ It was a genuine question - and it was like Frisk had been follow my train of thought exactly.

" _I sure as heck hope so. I mean… I guess I go to sleep when you do? We're kind of sharing a body now after all."_ I point out, before reaching out to poke the ghost. " _And c'mon, we gotta get through here somewhere. And trust me, this is the only pathway to the rest of the ruins."_

Immediately, the ghost floated off of the ground, before simply staring at us. Was… it gonna attack us? Or what?

"Hey! You're cute for a ghost!" Frisk says, and I feel our cheeks ignite at my indignation that those words were coming out my mouth. Technically, it _wasn't_ my mouth. But for the time being, we were sharing. " _Was flirting really the best option here?"_ I ask, rather exasperated at Frisk's choice of action.

" _Hey, it could totally work!"_

A second later, this proved to be quite the wrong prediction as now, we were a lot more battered than we were when we came into the fight. " _How 'bout instead of flirting, we could try and cheer?"_

" _Fine… but that isn't as much fun."_ Frisk huffs, before speaking out loud to the ghost. "Aw, come on! You're fine! Honestly, you're the friendliest ghost I've ever met!" She said, winking at the end to emphasise her point.

A groan escapes my mouth, as I fight the urge to simply let Napstablook go back to 'napping'… and bang our head on the nearest wall. " _Why do I feel that comment was directed at me?"_

"Not feeling up to it right now… sorry."

"Aw, come on! You're pretty amazing for not attacking me right now!"

" _Cause apparently every monster in the Underground wants to kill us. Yay!"_ If I could without looking weird, I would have clapped for myself.

"Let me try…"

I watch, flinching for a moment when I see Napstablook's tears again… but then went… upward? The confusion was clear in my eyes at his intention. Just what was this ghost playing at?

"I call it…. 'Dapper blook.'" At that, I couldn't help but laughing out loud. It was a bad pun - not the worst I've heard, but still, it was pretty silly compared to many others that I have heard. "Do you like it?"

"I love it!" I exclaim, still holding back whatever giggles were making my way through my system. It had been so long since I had heard a joke, that even if it wasn't as funny as I thought it was, I was gonna laugh at it anyway. Plus, the hat he made was pretty stylish to be honest. At least in my opinion.

"Oh gee… I usually come to the ruins because there's nobody around… but today I met somebody nice… oh I'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way."

Without another word, Napstablook disappeared into thin air.

"Well that was interesting." I said outloud, raising one hand to scratch the back of our head awkwardly.

" _... Could you disappear like that?"_

" _No!"_

"Seriously?"

I stared at the tiny webs in the corner of the otherwise empty room. "An actual bake sale from spiders? I thought that the sign was joking…" I murmur raising one hand to scratch the back of my head, as stared at the webs, bemused.

" _Well, we're going to buy some, right?"_ Frisk kneels down, placing a few coins into the webbing. For a moment, nothing happened, Then, I nearly jumped in surprise when some spiders crawled down, and gathered up the coins, before placing a small donut in return.

Tentatively, I picked up the donut before giving it a small sniff. "It smells like spiders also." I comment, before stuffing it in our pocket.

" _Let's just hope it doesn't taste like spiders also."_ Frisk said shuddering slightly before we moved on.

After a number of puzzles - which I didn't understand why they weren't solved anyway, considering mom had been through here only a little while ago.

Speaking of… what the heck was she doing here? It didn't make any sense. She said she came by the place where I had fallen everyday - but that was an impossible length from home. Things just weren't adding up right?b

" _Is something still bothering you?"_

I blink in surprise at the question, before realizing that Frisk must have sensed my confusion and uncertainty Considering the strange link we had between us, I really shouldn't have been as surprised as I was.

" _Kind of."_ I relent a little, knowing that she hadn't meant harm by asking me. " _It's just… mom being here doesn't make sense."_

" _It doesn't?"_ Of course Frisk wouldn't know, but it was certainly getting tedious explaining things.

" _We live pretty far from here. On the other side of the underground actually. We only came here occasionally. Certainly not every day. Things… are different."_ I frown as we continue forward, reaching down to press a switch - yet another puzzle before gasping as the floor beneath us collapsed, sending us spinning to another room. I silently cursed myself for not paying attention.

" _Well then let's ask!"_ With that, Frisk whipped out our phone before pressing the return call button.

" _What are you going to ask? What happened to you after your daughter died?"_ I say sarcastically, before becoming silent as mom answered.

"Yes, my child?"

Toriel **-**

"Hey, can you tell me a little about yourself."

"Well… there's not more to tell. I'm just a silly old lady who worries too much!." The phone clicks off once more.

" _Well that didn't help much."_ I stare at the phone, trying to make sense of it all. Technically mom wasn't that old - for a boss monster. Plus, she could only be a few years older at the most from when I died. She looked nearly the same as when I was alive, which meant time couldn't have passed that long. After all, they still had Asriel. That means they were gonna grow old just like a human.

" _Maybe we could try another approach?"_ Frisk suggested, before dialing Toriel again.

"Hello! Uhm…" Frisk says, and I felt her trying to grasp at something to say. " _You got anything?"_ Frisk asks, the desperation in her voice clear.

" _I don't know! This was your idea!"_

"Uh… You looked really… hot today!"

" _What the he-"_

"child." The phone clicked off, leaving the soft buzz of the dead line.

Oh dear… are you serious? And after you said you want to call me 'mother…' You are an… interesting child."

" _..."_

" _... Chara?"_

" _... You just flirted with my mom. I think… I think I'm just gonna need some soap to wash out my mouth."_

" _Bu-"_

" _Not talking anymore! Just walking! You're now prohibited from using my phone until further notice!"_

" _Sorry."_ I could feel Frisk's internal laughter still, however.

" _I swear, I'm gonna bang my head against the wall. Which means your head too."_ I threaten, even if I truly wasn't going to do that. Either way, Frisk stopped talking, which was a small relief in the grand scheme of things.

"A toy knife?" I finger the plastic knife, silently testing it's weight. It wasn't like my own. Not enough weight to it. And kinda useless. But better than the stick that Frisk had been carrying.

" _Do we really need that?"_ I could feel Frisk's hesitation at seeing the knife, and the unease hidden underneath it.

" _Why_ _ **wouldn't**_ _we take it? We took the faded ribbon aong with Napstablook again."_ I pointed out, pointing at the ribbon that was now strung on our shoulders. " _This shouldn't be any different."_

" _But… we could hurt people with this. And… You don't want to hurt anyone do you? You're not gonna follow that flower's advice are you?"_

I paused from twirling the knife as I hear Frisk's voice. _Did_ I want to kill anyone? I had never before. Sure, I has been trained to use my old knife - but I only had done that to help protect my family. That's it. Humans… they were a different story totally, in my opinion. I try to push away the gnawing thought that I had wanted to kill humans - and not just to free monsters.

But did I want to use Flowey's advice? Did I want to kill or be killed?

" _... No. But I want to take it with us just in case… in case… something bad happens."_ I whisper, as I clutch the knife tighter. " _If you're okay with that…"_

Silence between the two of us once more.

" _If you're wondering if I ever hurt anyone… no. But I wanted to hurt someone before. I even trained for it. But I never… "_ My voice cracks, as I stick the knife in our pocket. It hurt. Thinking about our plan. How it failed. It had to have. Mom was still down here. Monsters were still trapped. I had died for nothing… and possibly others also.

" _Do… You want to talk about it more?"_ Frisk sounds cautious as they ask, as if afraid to rouse my anger. I don't know if they're right to be or not.

" _No… maybe. Maybe later."_ Probably not. " _But… I promise if there is another way, I won't fight anyone. Not even humans."_

I feel the same feeling of worry and concern pop up, this time directly from Frisk…. And most of it was for me. Not even her. If I could truly mindread, I would take a guess that she was wondering why humans were on that list since I was a human myself. Yeah, that story isn't going to be told anytime soon to her. I never even told Asriel the full story.

Deciding that it was enough talking, I went back the way I came. I turned the corner to where I knew the staircase that led to the rest of the Underground led… and found… a tree. A dead tree, by the looks of it.

Suddenly, I spot Toriel, pushing buttons into the phone. Suddenly, our phone to ring in response. The surprise was immediate, as she rushed over to us.

"How did you get here? Are you alright? You got through alright?" Toriel's eyes searched us for injury. And I had to admit, we did have a few scratches here and there. After all, a bandage doesn't really protect us much. Nor does our ribbon.

But as she checked over us thoroughly, and healed us right up, I let out a small laugh, and felt the same sensation of a wetness at the corner of my eyes.

"Are you okay?" She said, her eyes only growing wider at my weird mix of laughing and the few tears that escaped my eyes. "Y-yeah." I say, reaching up to wipe the few that fell on my face - before giving a small grin. "I'm just… really used to be doted on. At least, I haven't been for a long while." My smile slips, and I quickly take my sleeve to catch any other tears that might dare to escape my eyes.

What really catches me off guard is when Frisk speaks up again. "S-Sorry for … um… flirting with you earlier. I just wanted to get to know you better… and you didn't want to tell me… so… I thought that maybe I could learn more about you in another way." A strange hiccuping sound escapes us, from the weird mix of emotions we were feeling. I hope the shock and confusion that I feel at Frisk's apology doesn't show on our face. "... C-Can I still call you mom? I… hope I didn't mess up too bad."

I see the shock of our words clear on Toriel's face. I could understand. We hadn't really talked much up to now. But suddenly, Toriel's face softens, before she envelops us in a hug. A small gasp escapes me at the sudden action, and I freeze at the sudden interaction, unsure what to do.

But, it's not only me, but Frisk also that hugs Toriel tightly in response.

"Of course you can call me mom.. If you really want to." Toriel murmured, stroking our back gently. I still felt the pinprick of tears ready to fall, but I held them back. I wasn't a cry-baby. Not like… Asriel. Where he was was is still a mystery to me. And dad. It was a strange, all very strange. But for now, I successfully pushed away all the rest of my worries, and just let myself be… happy.

It seemed too soon when Toriel finally let go, pulling back. If I wasn't mistaken, I thought I saw a glimmer in her eyes also - though I only saw it for a second, so I wasn't even sure that it was there. "Thank you…" I blinked in confusion, feeling the same emotion arise in Frisk also. "I think I needed that also…. You… remind me of someone from long before." For a moment, there was a distant look in her eyes, before the smile returned full-force on her face. "Come, my child. To see your new home!"

"New home?" Frisk echos out loud, and I feel something from her that I hadn't before - distress. But this time, I didn't understand why she felt it. Instead, my own mind was racing with my own concerns. Home? Sure this was _Home_ but it wasn't home! Our home was in _New Home!_ What the heck was going on here? And… had mom meant me? Had mom meant me?

As we walk around the tree, I felt my jaw drop and a small gasp escapes me. It was a perfect copy of our house.

 _  
_" _W-What's going on?!"_


	5. Chapter 5

"" _This is all wrong!"_

Frisk frowns as we approach the house.- " _No. This is not my house. This is not my home. Or Mom's! What is going on?!_ Suddenly, a flash of yellow light. Determination, once again. But this… this wasn't determination for me. This filled me with dread to see what I'll find inside.

" _Are you alrigh-"_ I didn't give a chance for Frisk to even finish.

" _No!"_ I say desperately, as I quickly follow Mom up the steps into the house, my heart racing. I hope that she doesn't see the clear alarm on my face.

I nearly freeze as we pass through the door, a shudder running down our spine as a I survey the area. It was exactly the same; except different colors. The stairs leading to the cast- no, that would be in our actual house. Where did these stairs even lead to? That was one mystery that had to be solved. … Yeah, not the biggest mystery here, but it was something to keep my mind off everything else that I was panicking about.

"Do you smell that?" I nearly jumped in surprise at Mom's voice, before Frisk took control, taking a few calming breaths for the both of us. "It's a butterscotch-cinnamon pie! I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here. So I will hold off on snail pie for tonight! Here, I have another surprise for you!"

"I"m coming!" Frisk says, heading after her. " _Are you going to be okay?"_ She asks inwardly, and I could tell she was nervous for the both of us, even if she was hiding it well.

" _Y-Yeah. Why don't you take the lead for a while?"_ I try to smile, but falter slightly as we walk down the hall.

"This is it. A room of your own- oh I hope you like it." I nearly flinch as Mom raises a hand to ruffle our hair, before relaxing slightly. At least this was a bit comforting, such a familiar touch. She used to do it all the time when I was younger - until I had told her to stop it because it was embarrassing. Now, I was grateful for the motherly touches.

"Is something burning? Um, make yourself at home!" She says, looking up suddenly, before leaving us alone in the hall.

" _Should… we check the room out?"_ Frisk says, though sounds as unsure of it as I am.

By now, I have calmed down a little, and took a deep breath, though I curled our hands into fists. " _Yeah… this is where our old room was."_

Silence from Frisk once more, as I pushed open the door, expecting nearly the same set up when I had been alive - it wouldn't be a surprise to me after everything I had seen so far. Apparently not. Only one bed set in the room - where mine had been, actually. Asriel's… wasn't here.

"Huh," I say out loud, before taking a quick look into the trunk at the foot of the bed, my eyes sparkling with excitement at the fine. " _Look at these toys! These are the ones I had as a kid!"_ I let out a laugh, as I stare at them.

" _Really? Aren't they a little big for you? And me?"_ Frisk says, raising an eyebrow as she kneels down to look through the trunk.

" _Aw, don't you think they're a little cool?"_ I smile as I pick up a small stuffed animal - one that me and Asriel fought over when we were little. While we were the best of friends, we sure as heck still had sibling fights.

" _Not in the least,"_ Frisk comments dryly, before getting up to inspect the rest of the room. A little box of shoes - which confuses both me and Frisk.

" _Shoes! None of my family except me even wears shoes! And none of these would even fit you!"_ Exasperated, I throw our hands into the air, fighting the urge to flip the box in frustration.

" _You keep mentioning family. And 'us.' So you weren't alone with Mom?"_ We squat slightly to squint at some dusty photo frames sitting on a table. Strange. Why weren't there any photos of us? Dad? Asriel?

" _Nope. It was me, Mom, Dad, and… Asriel."_ I feel the confusion bubble up from Frisk, as a million questions begin to form at her mouth. " _And you are allowed three questions, otherwise I'm just gonna stand here answering every question you have."_ I walk out of room, and turn down the hallway.

" _Uh… so Mom is married? Who's your father?"_ I roll our eyes as we examine a tall water plant.

" _Technically, I think that counts as two questions - but whatever. I get an extra one then. Well, yeah. She's with Asgore - my dad. Now, do you have any idea what this plant is?"_ I say, pointing at the plant wildly.

" _I recognize it… but that's not the point! Who's Asriel?"_

We continue down the hall, and I stop at the next room, ready to open it, until I squint at the door. "Under renovations? Seriously?" I mutter, before continuing on our conversation. " _Asriel's my brother. I mean, you could probably guess that I'm adopted. He's Moms and Dad's actual kid though."_

" _So… where are they? I mean, your dad and your brother?"_

My hand hovers over the next door's doorknob, holding my breath silently. I was almost scared to see what was inside - this was where Mom and Dad's room had been in our home. " _No idea… that's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm also trying to figure out what the heck Mom is doing here, in an exact replica of our house… almost, anyway."_ I correct myself as I step inside the room, once again finding the interior to be changed.

Quietly, we shuffle up to the garbage can and peek our head in. Snails. Frisk wrinkles our nose at the smell. It took a while for me to get used to the smell and taste of snails - especially snail pie. Thank goodness that Frisk didn't have to go through with that mess yet.

I look at the desk, and the chair next to it. "That's Chariel. Please treat it with respect." I say, indicating the chair, before snorting. It was an inner joke between me and Asriel - at how bad Dad was at naming things. Ignoring the confusion flaring once again, I take a look at the notebook on Mom's desk, eyes widening as I realized what it could be. " _Do you think this could be Mom's diary?"_

" _If it is, we shouldn't look at it."_

" _But it may hold the answers I need!"_ I take a closer look at the circled paragraph. "Why did the skeleton want a friend?" I read aloud, my eyes widening as I realize what this is. "Because she was feeling… bonely!"

" _... Seriously?"_ Frisk says, moving our eyes up and down the list. " _That's all there is?"_

A snort escaped from us, as I try to stop myself from laughing. I had forgotten how much Mom loved puns - and me, by extension, also loved them. While Asriel had simply hated it - ever since I saw a comedian performing in a small cafe our family had visited, me and Mom had become an unstoppable team of pun masters.

Frisk, on the other hand, didn't seem as amused. " _You don't think it's that funny, do you?"_

" _Listen, when you're alone for who knows how long, and the only thing you really have to do is make bad puns to keep you occupied, you'll share my laughter!"_ I challenged, before stepping away the room to analyze it more.

The bed is nearly the same size as the one Mom and Dad used to share - except on the opposite wall of the room. Huh. Also, a cactus. That's new also. Plus… plant books. " _Typha… water sausages… hmm."_

The last thing in the room that really interests us is a drawer. " _You're not going to peek into my Mom's drawer are yo- oh look, we're already opening it, yay."_ I groan as Frisk opens the drawer, before regrettably taking a look inside. A sock drawer. It's… a sock drawer.

" _Remember what I said about shoes. The same thing applies here."_ I shake our head, before closing the drawer.

" _So… how'd you get adopted?"_ Frisk asked as we exited the room, and went back to investigate the plant.

" _Aha! So this is a water sausage."_ I say, satisfied by this new development in my knowledge. " _Oh and your three questions are up. Now it's time for my three questions. Technically, you asked me a whole bunch of questions before this, so you should be glad I'm only asking three."_

" _Alright…"_ Frisk sounded a bit unsure by this new development, yet didn't argue.

" _It's you!"_ I say, jokingly as we pass a mirror in the hall. " _So why did you climb the mountain?"_ Blunt as my question was, it was a simple question also.

" _... cause of a dare."_ I had been on my way to the other side of the house, before I stopped right in my tracks.

" _You… climbed the mountain… because someone dared you to?"_ I ask slowly, sounding out every syllable in my mind.

" _Uh... yes?"_ Stunned silence, before I simply shook my head, mystified. Frisk rolled our eyes. " _Why'd you climb it then?"_

" _Let's just say it was… well, a better reason than yours."_ I mutter, still stunned by the drastically different reasons that me and Frisk had climbed Mt. Ebott for.

We were in the living room - nearly a perfect copy of our own. There was even four chairs beside the table. Mom sat in her rocking chair, reading. If I closed my eyes, it felt like nothing had changed. Yet still, things were drastically different.

I crept over to the bookshelf, but I recognized what it was. " _Wanna read a little?"_ I asked, turning over the book in my hand gently.

" _Why not?"_ We quietly opened it to the middle passage. " _Wait… so humans drove monsters underground?"_ Frisk sounded confused as she slowly closed the book. " _... And your king really named the ruins… 'Home?'"_

" _Uh… yeah? Doesn't your history book tell about the great defeat of monsters or something?"_ I say sarcastically,rolling my eyes. " _Yeah, 'the king'…. was pretty horrible at naming things."_ I say, lightening up a bit at the end. Honestly, I used to joke about Asirel's name a lot back then, and how it was just a combination of Moms and Dad's names."

" _No… monsters are pretty much just myths that no one really believes in anymore… wait…"_ I nearly jump as we enter the kitchen, because Frisk is now shouting in our mind. If she hadn't been simply saying it within the confines of our minds, I swore this yell would have reached the ears of every Froggit in the ruins. "Were you alive when the monsters were shut in here?"

" _Hey!"_ I complain, as we head over to the fridge. " _I'm supposed to be asking you questions now, not the other way around! Speaking of… so how about you? Do you have any family?"_

" _... no. I'm kind of a foster kid."_ Frisk says, and we lapse into awkward silence for a silent as I stop with my hand on the fridge to pull it open.

" _... Sorry. I understand… how it feels. Kind of."_ A lapse of silence between us, as I place my hand on the fridge door, not exactly sure how to proceed further in our conversation. I reach into the fridge, before feeling something that I hadn't seen for too long. " _Chocolate!"_ Immediately, I yank it out, and start unwrapping it. It's been here for a long time - that's clear from how the wrapper almost refuses to separate itself from the chocolate. But it is still fresh from being kept in the cold - for the most part.

Immediately, without Frisk's consent, I take a tiny bite, smiling as I feel the chocolate melt on our tongue. " _It still tastes as amazing as ever. She… she remembered."_ I smiled happily, before stuffing it down in the pants pocket, nearly forgetting the moment of silence between me and Frisk earlier.

" _Guess you really like chocolate?"_ She says, as we inspect a piece of white fur that was clogging up the sink.

" _Mom always used to make sure we had chocolate because she knew I loved it so much."_ I smile as i stare at the stove. " _... why did we even have a stove if both Mom and Dad use fire magic?"_

" _So… You didn't ask your third question, yet. What is it?"_ Frisk says curiously _._

" _... Do you want to go home?"_ Frisk steps back, as if the pie intimidates her. Or course, that wasn't the real reason. " _Let me repeat myself. Do. You. Want. To. Go. Back."_ I say each syllable, slowly dragging it out. We were now exiting the kitchen, and Frisk throws an uneasy glance over to Mom as we pass her, on the way back to the room she had given us to stay in. I refuse to call it my room.

" _No… yes? Maybe."_ Frisk says indecisively, frowning as we go into our room, only to lay down on our bed. " _... I-I don't know. I have a foster family - like I said earlier….though we weren't that close. … But I have school. And friends... "_

" _... You do know you cannot leave, right? The barrier… it let's things come into the underground. But it doesn't let anything leave. Not human or monster. The humans put it up to make sure none of them could ever leave…"_ I whisper, lowering my head to rest it on our knees. Frisk had curled up in bed, in an effort to comfort herself _._ " _You read the book… everyone's stuck down here. And we always will be."_ I shiver, before I suddenly grab the blanket on the bed, before pulling it over our head. " _... Come on, Frisk. We need to get some rest. … if I can."_

I try to smile, but I can feel Frisk's negative emotions overriding my own. With a sigh, I close our eyes. " _Good night. Let's see if I'm here tomorrow, and that I'm not just back in the void."_

" _... I'll find a way out, Chara. I promise. Good night."_ Before drifting off, I shuddered inwardly at Frisk's words. Promises shouldn't be made like that.

Promises are always broken.

" _Chara! Wake up! Are.. are you there?"_

I blinked open my eyes, groggy. Who the heck was calling my name? The last time someone had called my name was… well, it was was a long time ago.

But soon, I realized where I was. Unlike the void, it wasn't inky blackness and emptiness. The room I was in had the tint of blue, from the lights being off… and I was sitting in bed. It clicked in my mind.

"It wasn't a dream…" I whisper out loud, before realizing who had called me. " _Frisk! What is it? Why did you wake me up?"_

" _Look!"_ I realize we're looking at the middle of the room, where a plate and a singular slice of pie. And not just any pie, Cinnamon-butterscotch pie.

Instead of being gleeful over it, I instead try to roll over in bed. " _Seriously? That's why you woke me up?"_

" _I thought you liked it. You said it was Mom's specialty!"_ instead of complying with my wishes, Frisk dragged us from it with a groan. " _Plus, I'd rather have this than snail pie."_

" _I haven't slept in who knows how long - can't you at least let me have another hour to myself?"_ I groan, but only raise my hands to rub our eyes for a moment. Even though I had slept, I hadn't had a dream. Which was kind of disappointing, but also a relief. At least Frisk didn't have to rouse me from some kind of nightmare… at least for tonight.

" _We should save this for later."_ I say, stuffing the treat away, despite Frisk's protests - " _Seriously! You made it sound so go good!"_ _-_ before standing up from the crouch we had been in to pick up the piece.

" _By the way… so have you decided?"_ I feel Frisk freeze at my question, as if she had forgotten what lay ahead.

" _R-Right."_ Frisk says, taking a deep breath as if to clear her mind. " _I'm gonna tell Mom that I want to go… to go back."_ Even Frisk seems unsure about her decision. " _It shouldn't be too hard, right?"_

I simply gave a shrug in response. Who knows how it would actually be. " _I have a feelings we're gonna need some determination before we go, though."_ We had began to walk down the main hallway, before turning outside to once again gaze upon the tiny, tidy house. Immediately, a swept of yellow light flashed, and I felt the determination running through us once more. And while it wasn't completely mine, I knew I had a small part of it. My own little determination to find out what happened to the underground since I was gone.

Turning back inside, Frisk paused before the doorway, as if unsure that she truly wanted to step through there and continue. " _Just get it over with!"_ I said impatiently, before stepping into the room _for_ Frisk and headed straight to where Mom was still reading.

"M-Mom?" I whisper quietly, still feeling the resistance that Frisk was still putting up. But I refused to back down. Mom would understand… right?

"Up already I see?" Mom smiled as she raised her eyes from her book to look at us, before lying the book gently in her lap. "Um, I want you to know how glad I am to have someone here."

" _What about Dad and Asriel?"_ I think out, desperately wanting to ask the question that has been on my tongue this whole time.

"There are so many old books I want to share. I want to show you my favorite bug-hunting spot. I've also prepared a curriculum for your education. This may come as a surprise to you… But I have always wanted to be a teacher."

A light, but sad giggle managed to bubble up to the surface from me. Of course I knew that. Mom always seemed like she wanted to help take over the classroom whenever she and Dad had visited the various schools of the Underground.

'... actually, perhaps that isn't very surprising. STILL. I am glad to have you living here."

Another laugh had escaped me when Mom had raised her voice a little. It really wasn't something she did often, and when she did - well, to me at the very least, it was always funny.

"Oh, did you want something? What is it?" Finally, she noticed I had a question for her, straightening her glasses on her pointed nose. It really caught me off guard. While I did want Frisk to say the truth… I didn't want to leave. I was safe here. Finally, I was reunited with one of my family members.

"N-Nothing." I stammered, backing away slightly.

"Well, talk to me again if you need anything."

" _That went well,"_ Frisk commented, as we retreat to the bookshelf for the time being.

" _Super,"_ I moaned, resisting facepalming into the bookcase, trying to remember Mom still had us in her line vision. " _Are you sure you want to do this?"_

" _I.. I think s-"_

" _I think so isn't a good enough answer, Frisk."_ I said sharply, interrupting what Frisk was gonna say. " _I… I don't want to go myself. But it's your choice. It's your body."_ The last words were nearly whispered, as I clutch the bookcase with two hands, to keep our body from swaying by the mix of emotions in our body.

Slowly, Frisk took a deep breath of air. Making sure we were steady, she walked back over to Mom. My heart sank just the tiniest bit.

This time, we didn't even have to speak before Mom noticed us. "Oh, hello! Did you want to hear about the book I am reading? It is called '72 Uses for Snails'. How about it?"

"Sure," Frisk says, though her voice sounded the opposite of sure. I let out an inner groan. She had read this book over and over to me and Asriel as a kid, and I knew almost every one of them.

"Here is an exciting snail fact. Did you know that snails… make terrible shoelaces?"

Honestly, the book was more like a poor attempt a joke book. And no puns included. "Interesting." I said blandly, rolling my eyes.

"Well, bother me if you need anything else." Mom said, about to go back to her book.

"W-Wait!" Mom paused, her hands already picking the book up, and ready to go on ready. I could see the surprise in Mom's eyes.

"What is it?" Mom said kindly, a smile on her face as she lowered her face down to come at the same length as us.

"... How can I exit the ruins?" Frisk said in a small voice, and I let out a sigh I didn't realize i had been holding for the both of us

For a moment, Mom… she looked simply stricken. "... I have to do something. Stay here." Her voice was calm, with a commanding note in there. I stepped back for a moment, surprised, our eyes widening. I had never heard Mom that… angry before. Simply laying her book on one of the chair's armrests, and putting down the reading glasses, Mom ran off down the hallway.

" _... Should we follow her?"_ Frisk suggested, frowning. " _I… I didn't mean to upset her…"_

" _Of course we should follow her!"_ I said with a nod, turning away and heading back. There was… one place that we hadn't checked out yet. The basement. Or what could be a basement. In our house, technically our 'basement' just was the road to castle. Could… this basement be the road to the end of ruins? I wasn't so sure on anything anymore.

Turning into the main hall, we slowly climbed down the stairs. This was the only way left - I doubted we would find Mom in her room, or ours. This… we had to go forward, right? We had to keep going.

My guess turned out to be right, as just a few feet ahead, there was Mom. Immediately, I sped up, opening my mouth to say something - anything.

"You wish to know how to return 'home' do you not?" I stopped, stunned by her words. I… I had never heard such coldness come from her. Never before. It… it was so strange hearing those words coming out of her mouth. "Ahead of us lies the end of the ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be a good child and go upstairs."

I gasped, shocked by Mom's words. She was… she was going to destroy the exit? To the rest of the Underground? Snowdin? Waterfall? Hotlands? Home? I was never going to be able to see it again? No! That… that couldn't be. It couldn't just end like this! Why was she doing this? This wasn't like her at all!

Slowly, we turned. Frisk… she was following Mom's orders. " _Wait! We can't!"_ I cry, trying to fight back - to gain control. But it refused. Instead, Frisk quietly walked up the stairs, and back into the main hallway. " _Please!"_ I plead silently. " _We have to go back… I gotta find out why Mom is acting like this!"_

Silence from Frisk. Slowly, we exited the house, before turning around. " _S-Sorry… I just wanted to get a quick look before we leave."_ Then, I realized. She wanted to be ready to leave. She _was_ ready. Unlike me, who was determined to find out the truth… Frisk was determined to go home. As a yellow flash once more overtook us, I realized something - our determination seemed stronger together than when only one of us were grasping the emotion.

Immediately, Frisk walked back into the house, and down the stairs. I saw that Mom had made some progress, so quickly we jogged up to catch up. Once again, I opened my mouth, ready to try to talk once more.

"Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naive child… if you leave the ruins, they... Asgore… will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? … Go to your room."

This time, I sure my gasp was audible to Mom. "N-No…" I whisper, my eyes widening as shock poured through me. " _F-Frisk! This doesn't many any sense! Asgore's my dad! Why would he… why would he do something so terrible? Mom and Dad… what happened?! And I'm the first human to ever fall down here! This doesn't make sense! How many other humans could have possibly fallen down after I died? Mom looks the same age as ever - but if she is… then… then… Asriel!"_ I feel my breathing sped up, as I watch Mom continue further down the, but soon I am overwhelmed by the questions bursting.

" _Chara…!"_ I feel Frisk, grasping at me, trying to calm our body down.

" _He… he has to be dead. That's the only thing that would make sense… otherwise Mom and Dad would have grown older… humans don't just fall in a small period of time, Frisk! It could be hundreds of years since I was alive! No… no, no! There has to be some kind of mistake, detail, that I'm missing… it can't have been that long... maybe humans just fell commonly… that could be it… please..."_ Despite Frisk's best efforts, tears were now sliding down our face.

" _Chara!"_ I felt Frisk's presence slide over my own, trying to calm me down, but I refused. Our body shook slightly, and a small stream of tears were now making their way down my face. If Mom looked down now, then she would see me crying. I… I couldn't let that happen.

" _Asriel… he couldn't be dead. I… I…"_ I took a big gasping breath, trying to calm myself down. " _He can't be… not after everything we've been through... no! He has to be out there!"_ For a moment, I still shake. Then, a burst of determination. A determination to find and save my brother. And find out what happened to Mom and Dad. Help them both. Help my family. It may not be like the regular determination spots… but I still found it right now. My determination to save my family.

That's the only thing that matters.

" _Chara… are you okay? Are you okay to continue?"_ Frisk asks, worriedly.

" _... Yeah."_ Though I'm sure Frisk could tell that I wasn't completely fine, she didn't bother to contradict me.

Immediately, we took a few more steps forward down the winding hallway.

"Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning." Once again, Mom seemed commanding as she talked. But I had to continue forward. Frisk had to. We had to do it together. Turning the corner, we walked briskly after her, before stopping as she had. We were in front of the exit to the ruins. Silence rang around us.

"You want to leave so badly? Hmph." I flinched slightly at the dismissive tone she was using. It was one I had heard before - but she had only used it when she was truly angry. "You are just like the others. Prove yourself… Prove to me you are strong enough to survive." Immediately with a flourish, Mom turned around, facing us. And blocking our way.

Suddenly, our SOUL popped out. We… we really doing this? We were fighting Mom?

"No!" I shout out, staring straight at her. "I-I don't want to do this!" No reaction. A stoic face. Quickly, I look over Mom, trying to gain any information. " _She's… she's not going to stop is she? She thinks that she knows best for us."_ Fireballs shot out of her hands, directly aimed at us. I didn't think to move, my jaw dropping in shock. And apparently, Frisk didn't think about it either.

One fireball hit us squarely in the chest, making us gasp as we stumble backward, flinching at the pain. I had always seen her use this kind of magic before… but never had it ever been used against me before. Never. Tears from the pain gathered at the corner of our eyes.

It wasn't just one fireball that hit us either - the side of our cheek was burned, and I even believe that a small chunk of hair had been burned off from one side.

"M-Mom," I whisper out loud, hoping that Frisk would intervene, say anything. Apparently she couldn't think of any conversation starters either.

Another round of attacks, I gasp, now bracing myself, trying to dodge the oncoming wave. Despite my best efforts, now there was a cut on our left arm, and it was bleeding onto or sweater.

"Please…" I once again sputter out a reply but fail.

Once again, I was hit. Over and over…. It hurt. But I refused.

" _Chara? Maybe we should he-"_

I try talking again, saying anything. It had to be the right path… right? Unless… talking wasn't the answer. Why couldn't this fight be as easy as with a Froggit?

The onslaught of attacks once more again, Frisk began dodging. That was… until one hit us squarely in the chest. A small gasp, barely audible escaped us. For a moment, nothing happened. We stood, before our knees gae in. I see Mom gasp, putting her hands to her mouth.

I stare at her feet, feeling a shudder running through our body. I was dying again. Game over. Done and done. And this time, I wasn't the only one going to hell. " _F-Frisk. I-I'm sorr-"_ I don't even have time to finish my last apology before our SOUL splits into two.

I expect to fall back into darkness, as our vision fails us and we die. But… what I think is death, anyway. The void. I thought I was back in a void. "Fr-Frisk!" I cry, out, sitting up, before realizing what I was doing I was… sitting up. How? The void… it was empty space. You don't really as much stand, as float and spin.

And I soon realize it isn't completely inky blackness around me. In front of me, sits a red flashing button.

 **RESET.**

I blink in confusion at the strange words. What in the world? What was happening here? What did reset even mean? It wasn't the only word that floated in the empty space around us. Another word.

 **CONTINUE.**

And just like I was in front of rest, there was the body of Frisk lying there in front. Not even questioning my movements, I ran over, abandoning the first button. "Frisk! Are you alright?" I didn't even question how this was possible at first. How were separate - how I was now myself, and a green and yellow sweater once again clothed me.

As soon as I spoke, Frisk rose her head for a moment, looking confused. "Wh-Who?" Frisk looked directly me, the confusion only seeming grow on her face. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"Frisk! It's me, Chara! I… I don't know where we are. I would guess a part of the void…" I murmur uncertainly, looking back to the two words floating in the air.

It finally seemed to dawn on Frisk who I was. "Chara! That's how you looked like? Before you died? … What are those?"

:"Y-Yeah. This is what I looked like. And… I don't know. This is new."

Suddenly, a voice boomed into the space around us, spooking both me and Frisk. " **You cannot give up just yet… Chara! Stay determined!"**

"That's Dad's voice! … That's what he said to me before I died." I whisper, my eyes searching around the blankness, hoping to see a glimpse of my father.

"I… think it came from there." Frisk pointed with one finger at the 'Continue' button, which was now pulsing softly. "It… sounded like he wanted for you to continue, Chara. For the both of us to."

"But… we're dead. We _just_ died."

"But… maybe we could press the button? Together? Reset... I don't think we should touch that yet… maybe we can live on?" Frisk says, tilting her head to one side. "... What do you think?"

I stay silent, as I feel my eyes look from button to button. This was strange.. Unnatural even. Then again, there was nothing natural about me living on after dying, and being absorbed into Frisk's body.

"I…. suppose. " I say after studying the button for a minute. "Can.. we push it together. Both of us together, or not at all?"

"... Yeah." Taking a deep breath, Frisk stood up, standing next to me. We were nearly the same height, except I was maybe an inch or two taller than her. Huh. I had forgotten that I had been taller so long ago. Hopefully it wouldn't bother me so much if… if it was true.

"Ready?" I said, looking at Frisk - and staying determined all the same.

Frisk gave a tiny nod before she reached out. Immediately, I did the same action. Gently, we pressed against the button shining in front of us.

Suddenly, that flash of yellow light we had seen before surrounded us. And suddenly…

I blinked open my eyes, expecting to still be in the darkness of the void. Instead, I rose my hands to shield my eyes from the bright contrast of the ruins compared to the room me and Frisk had been in only seconds ago.

'How…" I whisper, before taking a quick look down at myself. I was… back in Frisk's body. I couldn't say that I wasn't slightly disappointed that somehow the world didn't bring y own body back, so me and Frisk could finally be separated, but I guess I couldn't complain too much. The world had granted one small favor on us - and I wasn't going to take it for granted.

"Frisk!" I say out loud, ignoring the fact that talking aloud like this would make me look crazy to anyone who might be observing - again.

" _Chara!"_ I hear Frisk's reply in my mind, and I breathe a sigh of relief. So, we were both here, and we were both back. That was one thing that was fixed.

"C'mon - we have to find Mom! She's probably so upset right now…" I whisper, shuddering slightly. I hope she didn't blame herself for Frisk's 'death'.

Immediately, we head into the house, and turn into the living room. No Mom. Walking across the room, we poke our head into the kitchen. Once again, nothing. " _Huh. Maybe she's in our room or her own?_ "

We soon walked the other way, and cracked open our room. Still, nothing. The same amount of goat moms sat in her room - absolutely none. " _Could she still be in the basement…?"_ Frisk says unsurely, as we quickly exit the hallway, throwing an uneasy glance at the stairs.

" _I… guess that's the only place that really makes sense."_ I say, reluctantly as I began to once again descend the stairs. Hopefully, we'd be able to comfort Mom - and stop her from destroying the last exit to the rest of the world. If we're unkillable, than that had to prove _something_ right?

As soon as we descended the stairs, I blinked as I saw Mom standing there. "Mom!" I cry, as I pick up the pace, ready to tell her what just happened.

"Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naive child… if you leave the ruins, they... Asgore… will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? … Go to your room."

I stopped stunned by her words, but it was unlike the first time that I was caught off guard. "What?" I said out loud, watching as she moved further down the hall. I squinted in confusion. Why was Mom telling me this again? We had just been through this! Immediately, we followed her.

"What are you talking about? We just went through this!" At least I wasn't the only one confused by Mom's speech. For a moment, a hint of confusion entered Mom's eyes, as she glanced at us through the corner of her eye.

"You must be mistaken, my child... " Mom said softly, breaking her iron voice for a second before returning to it a moment later. "Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning."

Well, that wasn't happening. I kept on pace with Mom this time, walking even faster than before.

"You want to leave so badly? Hmph." This time, I stand strong, staring Mom down. This time, I wasn't getting caught off guard. I don't know why we were given a second chance like this… but I sure as heck wasn't going to waste it. "You are just like the others. Prove yourself… Prove to me you are strong enough to survive." Immediately, with the same flourish as before, Mom turned around, blocking our way.

Just like before, our SOUL popped out. But this time, was ready. Checking wouldn't help. Talking wasn't going to help… so what else could we do? " _We… we can't fight her… right?"_ I hear Frisk's voice ring out, as for one singular moment, reaching for the knife in her pocket slowly.

" _No!"_ I say, immediately stopping before we grasped the toy knife. " _There has to be another way… there has to be."_ I frown as I flick my eyes over Mom. " _Didn't a Froggit or two tell us something like this earlier… like… like…"_

" _We might have to spare someone even if it doesn't seem obvious?"_ Frisk says, eyes widening in realization. " _We're not supposed to do anything! It all makes sense, Chara!"_

" _Well, let's hopefully not get ourselves killed this time."_ Taking a deep breath - me and Frisk did nothing. Fireballs. This time, we were expecting them.

"..."

Nothing from Mom - yet. Maybe we just had to keep it up. Again, fireballs came. And again. One or two managed to hit us, but for the most part, we were doing pretty well, considering it had only been three waves of fireballs last time when we had died.

"...?" I could see the confusion dawn on her face as she realized we were simply refusing to fight. " _We have to keep going!"_ I say, hoping this would lead to a better path than before. Once again, fireballs came at us. I let out hiss of pain as our left arm was scorched in the process of dodging.

"What are you doing?" While Mom spoke, the waves of fire came still. And some of these attacks were getting pretty hard to dodge. Once again, we were hit.

" _Do you think we should eat something?"_ Frisk said worriedly, and I could feel the anxiousness coming off her in waves. While _technically_ that could have been considered my third 'death', it seemed like dying again wasn't something that Frisk truly wanted to relive.

" _No, we can hold out a bit longer. She seems to be repeating the same attack patterns anyway…"_ I rub our arm which had been hit consciously of the burning pain still there. We could heal later. We just had to wear down Mom now.

"Attack or run away! What are you proving this way?" I stare silently at Mom's face, as I dodged, except for another hiss as a fireball once again landed. Now, I was getting a bit worried. But no way was I giving up. No way that we were giving up.

"Fight me or leave!"

"No!" Finally I spoke out, my eyes widening as I shuddered slightly from the small waves of pain going through our body. Once again, we got hit. Frisk lets out a cry as we stumble onto the ground, the pain almost too unbearable. But we were determined… we had to be. Slowly, we looked up at Mom's face, and I could see the stricken look on her face.

"Stop it." She was still firing at us - I flinched, eyes closing as a simply reaction, expecting to get hit once more, but nothing comes. Waves of heat pass on both sides of us. Slowly, we reopened them, and see that now the fireballs are avoiding us. Slowly, Frisk brought up a hand to wipe one side of our face that had been streaked with tears from the pain, before I firmly stared at Mom.

"Stop looking at me that way." Silence from the both of us, as the fireballs simply swept to either side of us, no longer aimed at Frisk. Maybe it was something from a remembrance, that she had killed us once before. How she didn't remember that, I still didn't know. But… but… it didn't matter right now. Maybe once, I would have laughed at her giving into either me or Asriel so easily. But now, I felt guilt - pure guilt flare from Frisk. For the first time since she fell, I feel my own sense of guilt flare also.

"I know you want to go home, but…" I see the pain in her eyes. I feel Frisk's determination wavering slightly. "But please... Go upstairs now." I wanted to follow Mom's instructions so bad… so badly. I may have not always been the perfect child - but I never disobeyed Mom, at least directly. I felt my SOUL - her, I meant her SOUL - twist in discomfort.

"I promise I will take good care of you here. I know we do not have much, but… We can have a good life here." Now, the small stream of tears flowing down our face wasn't just from pain. It… it hurt. Seeing her hurt. And I knew it was true. Mom would be capable of raising us. She… she...

"Why are you making this so difficult?" I saw the beginning of tears at the corner of her eyes. We... were hurting her. I didn't want this… I felt a shudder run down through my body. I didn't want this…

"Please, go upstairs." It was the last desperate attempt to get us to go… but still, despite it all, we stayed there.

"... Ha ha….. Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child." I felt my heart wrench, and felt my SOUL could split in two if Mom said even another word. Asriel… if she couldn't save any child before hand… I died... other humans had died... Asriel...

No. He had to be out there. I can't believe that my best friend is gone. My brother. He… he was too good for that. He was too good, compared to me… he couldn't have died with me… could he? No. There had to be another answer.

"No, I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down there. The RUINS are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations... My loneliness... My fear... For you, my child... I will put them aside." Mom finally lowered her arms, no longer firing anymore at us as she talked. A small sigh of relief escaped us, as we slowly stood up. We were battered, but the battle was over.

"If you truly wish to leave the ruins, I will not stop you. However, when you leave… Please do not come back." I felt myself visibly flinch at her choice of words. Could we never come back? Really? What was so horrible out there now that when we left… she never wanted us to come out? "I… hope you understand." Her last statement was a mere whisper, before without warning, she bent down to hug us.

A small gasp from Frisk - and then I could feel how she felt both comforted and already, felt loss. Once again, I felt my own emotions awakened by Frisk's. But I didn't complain. Instead, I let myself simply… feel. Being in the void, I was empty… but with Frisk… I felt _everything._

The hug ended too soon. Soon, Mom unwrapped her arms from around us, before taking a deep breath. "Good-bye my child." It was a mere whisper, and before we could respond, Mom quickly walked around us, disappearing. I turned around, ready to raise my hand to call her back - but she was gone.

" _I guess we should continue…"_ I blink as I hear Frisk's voice. She had been silent for so long, I had almost forgotten her for a second.

" _Y-Yeah…"_ Turning on our heel, I looked at the simple door in front of us. Closing our eyes for a second, Frisk took one deep breath to calm us. Quickly, I dug out one of the monster candies we had left, and popped it in our mouth. With a small flash, immediately the cuts on us were healed - as if by magic. We weren't completely healed - but it was enough to go on.

Frisk was the one who finally pushed open the door to the outside. Slowly, it revealed… a hallway of sorts. Without a word, she set off down it. Silence penetrated the walls, with no word spoken between us, or a appearance of any other monster.

What lay at the other side of the hallway shook her to our very bones. The same flower… just sitting there in front of us, smiling as we walked up. If I had thought that smile of his was welcoming before, now it was only disturbing.

" _C-Can we walk past him?"_ Frisk suggested nervously, looking at the small mound between us, and the door presumably to the rest of the Underground.

" _I think we have to face him."_ Silently on the outside, I took another step forward, trying to put on an air of confidence.

"Clever. Verrrryyy clever." Flowey - _how I loathed that name_ _-_ was smirking at us. Not smiling. But… smirking. "You think you're really smart, don't you?" I feel Frisk stiffen unintentionally, as we stare at Flowey. I had opened my mouth to reply, but was promptly shut down as Flowey continued.

"In this world, it's kill or be killed. So… you were able to play by your own rules." I gritted our teeth, taking up a defensive stance as Flowey continued. He was getting on my nerves… but I wasn't sure Mom would be around to save us if Flowey chose this moment to attack.

"You spared a life of a single person." The grin on Flowey's face had taken a sickly turn. "Hee hee hee… I bet you feel really great." His smile reverted back to a smirk, and a shiver ran up our spine. I had nothing to rebuke his taunts - and Frisk seemed to have nothing to offer up either. "You didn't kill anybody this time." I freeze, trying to process what he just said.

" _This time…?"_ I echo his words, confused. " _Does… does he mean like when we came back? Something like that?"_

" _I-I don't know…"_ Frisk's voice was filled with hesitation and confusion.

"But what if you meet a relentless killer?" Suddenly, our attention was directed back to Flowey. "You'll die and you'll die and you'll die. Until you tire of trying. What will you do then? Will you kill out of frustration?"

" _He knows! He knows we died and came back! How? Mom didn't have a clue!"_ For a moment, instinctively, I reached towards the knife on our belt.

" _Chara!"_ I freeze as I stop, my hand inches away from the blade. And in that moment, I realize I was just about to do what he wanted. Immediately, I drop my hand to my side, gritting our teeth harder together.

"Or will you give up entirely on this world... And let ME inherit the power to control it?" My eyes widen as Flowey continue, and I have to use all my willpower to not rip the toy knife out and point it at him. His face was once again twisted beyond belief, showing the horrible person this monster truly was.

"I am the prince of this world's future." I stepped back in surprise at his next ghastly face. Frisk seemed alarmed, but instead, his words only made me bit down harder, and accidentally bit down on our own tongue. There was only one true prince. And this flower was certainly not him.

"Don't worry, my little monarch, my plan isn't regicide. This is SO much more interesting." I let out an audible gasp, our muscles tensing at his words. I watch, my eyes widening as Flowey's face nearly lifts off, laughing loudly at my distress, before popping back into the earth.

" _He… he couldn't know…"_ I sway, and I could feel Frisk's worry for me increase. " _He couldn't know… he can't know about me! It's impossible!"_

" _Chara?! What couldn't he know? Why did he call us a monarch?"_ Frisk was demanding for answers, but I had none to give. What could I say, really?

" _He… he knows that I'm in your body Frisk. He has to. Otherwise he wouldn't have called us a little monarch…"_ I could feel Frisk's frustration rise at not knowing the full answer.

" _But what does that mean?"_

A small laugh left us, as I stared at the spot where Flowey had been moments ago. " _Well… you're technically sharing a body with the former princess of monsters."_ With that, I let out a sigh I hadn't realized I hadn't been holding, and walked out of the door, into a blanket of white.

* * *

(If you guys are wondering... yes. I did somehow manage to die my first time fighting Toriel. :'3 So it's not impossible. So much determination, in this story.)


	6. Chapter 6

A cold gust of wind welcomed us, as we stepped through the doorway into Snowdin Forest. And was promptly blinded for a moment by a leaf that got blown into our face. Brilliant start, if I had to say so myself. I groan as I raise one hand, stumbling forward out of the doorway to brush the leaf of our face.

And as I do, the door shuts behind us. By the time I finally peel the stupid thing off, the door had shut with a foreboding 'thud'. Guess Mom had really meant what she said then… we weren't going to be able to come back. At least without her opening the door back up for us.

" _Do we just go?"_ Frisk says, furrowing her eyebrows as she clutched the sweater we had tighter to our body. If I had known it was this cold, I would have tried to request a coat or something from Toriel before we left. But, I suppose our sweater would just have to do until later. Not that our bow would be helpful in the matter of keeping us warm - unless we tried to string it around our neck like a scarf, I supposed.

" _Yeah… this is Snowdin Forest."_ Unlike the ruins… nothing much seemed to have been changed in here. Then again, nobody really lived in the forest when I was alive. And unless the actual town of Snowdin moved from it's point next to Waterfall… then there wouldn't be any other changes to speak of, really.

" _... Was that pun intentional?"_ I could hear the groan in Frisk's thoughts.

" _Let's say it wasn't the king who helped name it, but his queen instead. She is very… punny."_ I say, a smirk on our lips now that we worked confidentially onward - but first we went over to the one bush on the road. I blinked as I pulled back the branches, and nearly yelped in surprise. A… video camera? " … What the hell?" I heard Frisk flinch at my swear. "What! I say this describes this perfectly if someone is recording this. And on watch for someone or something escaping the ruins." While I know Mom wouldn't have approved my use of such a word - not even the strongest swear I knew - I wasn't going to shy away from using it or even hearing it like Frisk just did.

Knowing that no answers were going to come from staring at the camera, I finally turned away and began walking down the path. Our feet sunk into the snow, but only slightly. It wasn't as deep as I expected it to be. Once again, however, I wish we had been more prepared. Maybe if we dug around in that old shoe box, we would have been able to find a pair of winter boots or something. The brown boots we had on now barely did anything to protect us from the cold.

" _You mentioned that earlier… "_ I could tell Frisk wasn't enjoying trudging through the snow anymore than I was, but unlike me, that wasn't where her focus was at the moment I could also sense a little annoyance at my own pun, but put it aside for now. " _Are you really royalty?"_

" _Technically, yes. Through adoption. Don't call me a princess or I will make it my JOB to annoy you with puns."_ Now, a cool silence rang through the forest. Seemingly empty except for us, also. Strange.

" _Does that mean… she was the queen? M… Mom?"_ I froze us in our tracks for a second as she stuttered out the last word. If I could, I would have shot Frisk a nasty look. As it was, I only could hope she could sense my distaste. Technically… I guess Mom had taken in her as her own child. Whether I liked it or not.

" _Yes. And… she still is, as far as I know. Then again, I guess I'm not the most up-to-date and knowledgeable person about. Maybe we could ask someone if Snowdin. They're a friendly enough town."_ It had been a while since we went to the small town as a whole family. Not counting the amount of time that had passed after I died also. Strange, thinking about it like that.

" _There's a whole town named that also?"_ I could feel her groan at the name, once more.

" _Yeah… it's a bit. Hopefully the path to the town is clear enough so we could see it."_ I shiver once more from the cold before continuing on. So far, this was the most clear path we could take. The trees on either side of us were way to thick to try traveling through.

Speaking of… a thick branch lay in front of us. " _Hey, this could work better than that toy knife we found."_ I said, grinning as I tried to kneel down to lift it up.

" _What? No!"_

" _Kidding, I'm just kidding! Just imagine trying to swing this thing around. We can't even lift it…"_ I had started to lift it, but could barely tilt it to one side. Sighing, I got back to our feet. " _We shouldn't be wasting any time, anyway. I don't want to die for a second time with you by freezing to death."_

" _Right…"_ I let my thoughts drift as Frisk took the steering wheel. While I wouldn't have known it otherwise, it gave you plenty of time to think when someone else could do all the hard work.

 _ **SNAP**_

That shook me directly out of my thoughts, our whole body flinching from the sudden noise. Immediately, Frisk turned us around to where the whole branch broke in two. " _Crap."_ I stare at the broken branch in horror. Okay, maybe we _weren't_ so alone. Nothing else could go wrong, right?

" _M-Maybe that was Toriel? Maybe she changed her mind… or it's a joke."_ I could hear the stutter in Frisk's thoughts, and quickly, she dug the phone out to call.

 _Nobody picked up._

" _... Let's keep moving."_ I take control, feeling the rise of panic on Frisk's side, and knowing if we had to run… well, we couldn't be panicking and floundering. Immediately, we picked up the pace a little - even though Frisk seemed to have some kind of limit on how fast she could move. " _There! That's a bridge! Maybe we could lose whatever it is there!"_

For one second, Frisk tore our gaze from ahead to look back. For a split second, I was sure there was a black shadow. But just like that, it was gone. A shiver ran down our back - and this time, it wasn't from the cold.

" _Maybe she'll take us back! She was right!"_ Frisk yelled at me, even though I swung our head back around and kept on peeling for the bridge. Meanwhile, Frisk was trying to hit the redial button on our phone.

" _It"s too late for that! That thing is behind us! If we try to go back, I'm sure we'll be more than dead!"_ Soon, we came to the gap into the road. What I hadn't noticed before was the bars trying to block anyone from passing.

While I immediately wanted to keep moving, Frisk planted our feet firmly into the ground. I let out a hiss of annoyance. " _Frisk, c'mon! We can't just stand here!"_

" _But it's blocked off!"_

" _Frisk, for God's sake, MOVE. The bars are too wi-"_ I stopped midway, when I felt a warm wind over the back our our neck. No, not the wind. The wind out here could never be that warm. It had to be…

Frisk already had froze our body into place before I realized the danger that was right behind us. Only now, I realized the amount of danger that we had to be in if what Mom said was true.

" **human."**

" _Oh god, help us."_

" **don't you know how to greet a new pal? turn around and shake my hand."**

" _Wha- no. We are walking ahea- Frisk!"_ I felt my own panic as Frisk turned around. " _What are you doing?!"_

" _Runnings not going to do any good."_ Frisk said firmly, her eyes shutting for a second as we shiver, before stretching out our hand to shake the monsters.

" _WHAT THE HELL FRI-"_

The sound that came out of his hand shut me up as soon as we all became deathly silent. For a few seconds, neither me or Frisk have anything to say.

"heheh… the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's ALWAYS funny."

For a moment, I didn't say anything - Frisk still seemed frozen in fear. I wanted to laugh - truly I did. After all, it was pretty funny. I had to admit that. But with Frisk's fear and mine combined, the most I could do was let out a nervous half-laugh. "Y-Yeah, funny!" I nearly choked on my words, as we finally got our first good look at the figure in front of us.

A skeleton - now that was intriguing. I leaned forward, trying to catch every detail. I had only seen one skeleton before in the Underground… and this was definitely not him. Strange. And his outfit was even stranger. A blue jacket… and a bulge that made it seem like he must have had a stomach, when I knew for a fact that skeletons were all bones powered with magic. And… he was wearing slippers of all things.

" _Wait, you've seen a skeleton like this before?!"_ I flinched at Frisk's sudden thought. I hadn't meant to verbalize my thoughts to Frisk. Apparently our connection was growing stronger than I'd like.

" _Yes, it's a long story. I'll tell you later."_ I say in reply, before turning my attention back to the skeleton.

"anyways, you're a human, right?" The skeleton looked at us, looking confused by our sudden lapse into silence. ' _We gotta remember that no one knows when we're talking to each other - we probably look weird when doing it."_ I thought, trying to put a grin on our face as we stared at the skeleton.

" _Good idea."_ I hear Frisk say in return. "That's right." She says out loud, nodding in response to the question.

"that's hilarious."

We blink in confusion. "... Hilarious?" Well, that wasn't what I thought he would say. If Mom had been right, then most monsters would attack us and/or try to capture us. This guy… this guy was different. I could tell straight away.

'yeah, kiddo." We blinked once again, as he winked at us. "i'm sans. sans the skeleton i'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now." Immediately, we tensed up. "but... y'know… i don't really care about capturing anybody." Slowly, we relaxed a little more. This guy… I didn't know what to think of him. At all. Was he just… lazy?

"now my brother, papyrus… he's a human-hunting FANATIC. hey, actually, I think that's him over there. i have an idea. go through this gate thingy. yeah, go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone."

" _Told yo- woah!"_ Immediately, Sans spun us around and began pushing us across. " _NOPE, this isn't a good idea!"_ Immediately, I tried to dig my heels into the ground to stop us, but it didn't do much good.

"Um… are you sure this a good idea?" Frisk voiced her concerns, eyes wide as he pushed us forward.

"of course. it's fine, I promise. now, quick behind that conveniently-shaped lamp." I looked over at the lamp - it was pretty… conveniently shaped. I wasn't going to question it, however. Out of the corner of our eye, I could see a figure approaching in the distance. No way was I gonna allow us to be caught by a human hunting fanatic or whatever. As quick as possible, I walked behind the lamp, and crouched down behind it.

"Might as well get comfortable…" I sat down in the snow, leaning against the lamp. "Don't know how long this could take after all."

" _And now we're gonna be cold and wet…"_ Frisk sighed, curling her legs to her chest.

" _Too bad. We've been walking forever, it feels like."_

"sup, bro?" I could hear Sans from here clearly - Papyrus must have arrived. Slowly, I twisted my head to the right to get a quick glance at Papyrus. Much taller than Sans, he wore a whole different set of clothes… but quickly we went back into place as Frisk assumed control.

" _Chara! Do you want to be caught by that guy?"_ Frisk scolded, and I could barely resist the urge to roll my eyes.

" _Come on! This is interesting! This would only be the third skeleton I've seen - like ever. They're rare…"_ I sigh leaning back against the lamp even more.

"YOU KNOW WHAT "SUP,' BROTHER! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN' RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!" I blink as I listen to Papyrus. Strange. Very… strange. " _Fan of puzzles? And hopefully ones that are more challenging than the ones in the ruins."_

" _Hey! Those were pretty challenging!"_ I hear Frisk protest, but ignore her to listen to the brothers.

"staring at this lamp. it's really cool. do you wanna look?" We froze, listening. Was Sans going to sell us out so quick?

"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE?! I WANT TO BE READY!" I let out a short breath of relief. Maybe Papyrus wouldn't bother to come over and check.

"I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT… RECOGNITION… I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD!" Now this was interesting. This whole skeleton was intriguing to me. The Great Papyrus? He obviously didn't speak in third person all the time, but had a show name. And he wanted to join the Royal Guard? What for, I couldn't exactly guess. The Royal Guard hadn't exactly been needed as things had been pretty peaceful when I was alive. Had things really changed that much since then? Or was it due to capturing a human?

"PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO BE, MY 'FRIEND'? I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING."

" _This guy really wanted to be popular doesn't here? Makes me wonder how many friends he actually has right now."_

" _Shh, Chara!"_

"hmm... maybe this lamp will help you." Oh god. I couldn't tell if this guy was really trying to out us, or just getting a good laugh from all this. Either way, I was kind of shaping up to liking these skeletons.

"SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING! YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOOGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"

" _Lazybones?"_ I couldn't help but quietly snicker at the phrase. " _I wonder if that was intentional or not."_

"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today. a skele-ton."

Luckily, Frisk had planned ahead and quickly slapped a hand over our mouth to stop my laughter. " _Oh my god… he's a punner. I've found myself another punner."_ I think gleefully, silently shaking with laughter now.

" _I'm delighted."_ Frisk said, though I know some of the laughter was coming from her also at this point.

"SANS!"

"come on. you're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT!"

" _The sentiment is shared!"_ Frisk called in our mind.

" _Well, you're stuck with me, so learn to love them."_ I turn my attention back to Papyrus once more, tilting my head so we could hear better.

An audible sigh could be heard from Papyrus. "WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME… HAVE TO DO SO MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION…" And in that moment, I kind of felt sorry for the guy. Sure, I barely knew him. But hey, he didn't seem like a bad guy. People often acted differently when you were around them or not. I briefly wondered what would happen if he knew we were there, listening in.

" _Don't you dare!"_ I heard Frisk's voice call out, obviously hearing my previous thoughts.

" _God! Some privacy would be welcome."_ I think, before sighing. " _I wasn't going to be stupid enough to reveal ourselves, Frisk. What do you take me for? Some kind of idiot?"_

"wow, you really sound like you're really working yourself… down to the bone."

Once again, our body shook with silent laughter. " _These jokes are so bad… but I don't care."_ I snickered, shaking my head as I tried to contain my laughter. " _I'm gonna have to exchange our jokes sometime. Maybe have a pun contest. Yeah, that would be nice."_

" _Just promise to leave me out of it. Sure they're funny, but I'm not good at making jokes myself."_

" _Well, we kinda share a body, Frisk, my buddy, my pal. If this thing is gonna happen, I would say that you would HAVE to be involved."_

"UGH! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES… AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE… 'BACKBONE' INTO IT. NYEHEHEHEHEHE… HEH!"

" _Oh my god."_ This time, there was no containing my laughter. These two skeletons were a riot. God, I had thought Mom's puns were good. But these? These were on a totally different level. They were bad - really bad. I could admit that. But to me they were priceless. I could feel Frisk's slight amusement and irritation at the puns, mixed together, but at the moment, I could only feel amusement.

"ok, you can come out now." I heard Sans said, and I get up from my sitting position, having to lean on the lamp for a moment to stand up straight.

Slowly we walk over to Sans, who was… smirking? "you oughta get going. he might come back. and if he does… you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."

"They were hilarious, I have to say that." I say out loud, grinning before looking around to investigate the area a little more.

" _That lamp really was convenient, wasn't it?"_ Frisk says as we look at the lamp we had hidden behid. It literally was the size and shape of our body - which I had to admit, was pretty creepy.

" _Very."_ I say before moving on to the post. Finding… condiments behind it.

" _Ketchup?"_ Frisk said, sounding as confused as I felt, and I turned my head to look at Sans. he was still standing in the same spot as before, carefully watching us. I didn't blame him for that. After all, we were a human. And I didn't really trust humans myself - except Frisk now. They were the only exception I was making currently though.

" _Maybe it's San's, since Papyrus did just say this was his post."_ I guessed, tilting my head at him before shrugging. " _Eh. I'm not gonna question if he has a tongue or not. Don't really wanna find out either."_

" _How would skeletons even eat? Wouldn't the food fall right through them?"_ Frisk questioned as we approached the main path, ready to set off once again.

" _No, no, you misunderstand the concept of monster food. Remember when we ate that monster candy earlier? And you felt rejuvenated?"_

" _Yeah, what about it?"_

" _Monster food is magical - it converts what energy you would eventually get from the food into energy that can heal easily. Most monsters run on magic - skeletons also. That's how they stand up right despite not having any other organs and muscle to support them."_ I said matter of factly.

" _You sure know a lot about this kinds of stuff."_

" _Well, I was literally raised by monsters - the King and Queen no less. I wanted to learn as much as I could about who I was living with and the monsters around me when I was younger."_ We were starting to head out of the area when I heard San's speak up again.

"actually, hey... hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor? i was thinking… my brother's been kind of down lately… he's never seen a human before. and seeing you might just make his day. don't worry, he's not dangerous. even if he tries to be."

For a moment, I fell silent. " _We're going to do it right? You did want to make his day earlier and reveal ourselves to him."_ Frisk pointed out.

" _Of course we're going to do it… and I wasn't going to reveal us! Jeez!"_

Seeing that we both agreed, Frisk nodded at Sans. "Sure!"

"Nice to see a comedian around!" I called after Frisk, and silently snickered to myself. " _This is gonna be fun messing around with these skeletons. A skele-ton of fun, as Sans says himself."_

" _Seriously, re-using a pun he had just made a few minutes ago?"_ Frisk doesn't sound amused by my joke.

"thanks a million. i'll be up ahead." Sans said, before… heading back in the direction we came.

"... Uh." I watch him go. "... Up ahead? But he went … I'm not gonna question it." I shake our head.

"This is gonna be interesting…" Frisk murmured, before we both moved onward.

* * *

Sorry for the wait guys. I had finals after the last chapter I posted, and then I had absolutely no muse for this story up until recently. This chapter is a bit shorter than the last, but a bit longer than the rest of them. I hope to get a consistent amount of words done each chapter from now on, and only felt like the last chapter couldn't be broken down in any way possible, and that's why it stands at it's length.


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